‘Undercover Boss’ Shuts Down His Own Restaurant

Rick Silva, the head of Checkers and Rally’s drive-in restaurants was featured on the latest episode of ‘Undercover Boss.’ Like the other sneaky bosses before him, the CEO donned a disguise and pretended he was just a lowly employee, in this case at a Checkers’ franchise in Homestead, Florida. And it was also the first case of a boss breaking his cover and shutting down the workplace on the spot.

During his undercover stint, Silva became bothered by the restaurant’s managers treatment of a fry cook named Todd. Not only did the manager, known only as “Stevens,” berate Todd harshly, but he threatened to take the employee outside and beat him if he didn’t work harder.

Shocked by Stevens’ tone, Silva asked to speak with him outside. First, Stevens explained that he had to scream at his staff or they wouldn’t listen. Then he began to question why Silva had the right to question him on how he handles his workers.

Silva tried to remain in character, but when Stevens continued to press him on his credentials he finally snapped

“I have been in the restaurant business for over 20 years. And I’ve been in the fast food business for over 20 years. I’m CEO for this company,” Silva explained.

Stevens was understandably crestfallen by this revelation. Silva was so angry about what he had seen that he shut the restaurant down on the spot. But don’t worry, it was reopened the next day with a new manager, so nobody lost their job. In fact, Silva even retained Stevens, who was ordered to undergo more job training. You can watch this entire ‘Undercover Boss’ episode for free on CBS’s website.